The Effect of Home-Based Education on the Occurrence of Urinary Tract Infections in Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury Discharged from the Hospital

Abstract

Background: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are common in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) due to their inability to take care of themselves. Thus, families have a main role in caring for these patients. Objectives: This study sought to examine the effects of home-based education on the incidence of UTIs and bedsores in patients with TBI discharged from the hospital. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted on 50 patients with TBI admitted to Khatam Al-Anbia Hospital in Zahedan in 2022 and their caregivers. The participants were selected through convenience sampling among those meeting our inclusion criteria and randomly divided into the intervention and control groups. Caregivers in the intervention group received face-to-face home-based training on the second and fifth days after discharge (i.e., two 45-minute sessions). The participants in the intervention group also received educational pamphlets and videos in the patient’s living environment. The participants in the control group received routine care. After four weeks, urine samples from the patients in the two groups were cultured, and the growth of organisms and the number of colonies were determined. If the number of colonies was 105 per mL or more, the test was considered positive, confirming the presence of UTI. The data were analyzed by SPSS 21 software using appropriate statistical tests at a significance level of less than 0.05 (P < 0.05). Results: The results showed that 28% and 64% of the patients in the intervention and control groups were positive for UTIs, respectively. The result of the Chi-square test indicated a statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of the incidence of UTIs (P = 0.01). Conclusions: Home-based education for traumatic brain injury patients and their caregivers can be effective in reducing the incidence of UTIs after discharge from the hospital and should be incorporated into nursing care programs at the time of the patient’s discharge.